Auditorium is full of beautiful sound that is silent until you begin to manipulate the puzzle before you. The goal in Auditorium is to fill the different colored gauge bars until they are all filled at once. You fill these bars with sound particles that appear like flowing water on the screen. The bars you fill act as different music notes making up a part of the stages tune.
This is performed with different types of controls that let you steer the direction, increase the speed, repel or reflect the sound particles. Each of these controls can be moved around the screen and changed in size. There will be situations that require smaller compact control spheres instead of gigantic ones. In addition there are plenty of situations that require two different direction control spheres to be smashed together to get a combination effect.
Beginning levels in Auditorium is a bit maddening as you begin in absolute silence. With no help or guides in game to steer you in the right direction you are on your own once you start bending sound in different directions. This also applies to the game adding new elements of play with new control spheres. When a sphere that loosely resembles a rabbit appears it's clear what it relates to, speed, but unclear how to use it properly.
Then comes the addition of color. Not all gauges you need to fill will just be white or yellow. There are plenty of stages that require multiple colors. To accomplish this it is as simple as having the sound flow through colored rings stamped into the puzzles background. It can be as complicated though as twisting the sound violently in different directions to hit colors and gauges in far corners of the stage.
There are a total of 15 different stages in Auditorium with each stage making up 4 to 6 different puzzles. For those not very puzzle savvy like myself the rebellious sound particles that flow on screen are tough to control. There are definitely some puzzles I solved by sheer luck when a single sound particle kept flowing in the same direction as a gauge which barely completed the level.
Auditorium is a great budget title that puzzle enthusiasts will eat up. When a puzzle really starts to flow the mixture of lighting effects and audio blend together for a relaxing experience. When it doesn't go so well walls can be hit pretty fast and there is absolutely no help to get past road blocks. Auditorium is available now on the PSP, and PS3.
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Graphics |
9.0 |
Majestic graphics support the calm mood |
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Audio |
8.0 |
The audio in the game is welcomed and when its absent it's frustrating |
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Single Player
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8.0 |
While not a huge title the puzzles are challenging to be worth the cost and time. The satisfaction of completing puzzles is worth it. |
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Multiplayer |
N/A |
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Replay |
5.0 |
When you're done, you're done. |
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Overall |
8.0 |
Different game-play was fun and finally we get to have an adventure with Sora again. |
